HUNDREDS turned out in Luckington to give the village’s outgoing postmasters a send-off to remember on the weekend.

John and Judith Sykes, 69 and 68, announced they would be retiring from running the shop earlier this year, and they were thrown a surprise party on Saturday by residents.

The couple have been in charge at the Luckington Post Office Store for 23 years and were presented with £6,315 cheque and a host of presents for their hard work over the years.

Famous actress Sheila Hancock was also in attendance and said some kind words about the popular couple.

Mrs Sykes said the party “was a shock”.

“You sort of know that something is going to happen but the scale of it and the number of people who had turned up was incredible,” she said.

“Sheila taking the time out of filming to come out was really special too.

“She has always been a good friend and customer of ours and she always used to come and see us whenever she was down.”

Liz Pike, one of the organisers of the event, said: “To a lot of the older members of the village, it was more than just a shop for them.

“John and Judith did far more than they needed to.

“We were wondering what to buy them for a while but in the end we settled on giving them money.

“We also got them a lovely big bouquet of flowers and a local blacksmith made them a sculpture that was commissioned by their daughter.

“John and Judith were gobsmacked and they were so moved by it all.”

Luckington parish councillor John Buckley said the couple would be missed.

“It’s not just that they ran the shop, they cared for so many of the vulnerable people in the village,” he said.

With the shop closing, Luckington would have lost its only village shop, however a temporary shop has been set up at The Ship pub, called the Ship Shop, which will be open 7am-7pm on weekdays and in the morning on weekends.

The shop will supply residents until a permanent shop is set up on the pub site, which the landlords have planning permission for.